US COMPOSTING COUNCILANNUAL REPORT 2016

2 US COMPOSTING COUNCIL

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The US Composting Council (USCC) is a national, non-profit trade and professional organization promoting the recycling of organic materials through composting. The USCC is the only national organization committed to the advancement of the compost manufacturing industry.

The USCC Fiscal Year runs from April 2015 through March 2016 and report information reflects that.

President: Lorrie Loder-RossiterVice President: Wayne King, Sr.,ERTH ProductsTreasurer: Clayton Leonard,New EarthSecretary: Jeff Ziegenbein,Inland Empire Utilities Agency

Board of DirectorsBrian Fleury, WeCare OrganicsMatt Cotton, Integrated Waste Management ConsultingJoe DiNorscia, Laurel Valley Tim Goodman, NatureWorksRobert Michitsch, Ph.D. University of Wisconsin – Stevens PointPatrick Geraty St. , Louis Composting Bob Yost, A-1 OrganicsSusan Thoman, Cedar Grove CompostingSarah Martinez, Eco-ProductsGreg Gelewski, Onondaga County Resource Recovery AuthorityJohn Janes, CAT

Board Emeritus: Eliot Epstein, Ph.D., Epstein Environmental Consultants, LLCExecutive Director: Frank Franciosi

BOARD &EXECUTIVECOMMITTEE

About USCC .......................................4

President’s Letter .............................5

Financials .............................................6

Membership .......................................8

Compost Markets .......................... 10

Advocacy........................................... 10

Education ......................................... 12

Future Outlook ............................... 14

ANNUAL RePORT 2015–2016 3

Charles “Chuck” Wilson, a leader of the compost manufacturing industry and the US Composting Council, passed away unexpectedly April 24, 2016, deeply saddening the compost industry. Chuck spent 38 years in the organics industry, following his father Duane, another industry leader, as a young man in the family business in 1982. He served as vice president of sales, operations manager and president before purchasing the company in 2005 and becoming CEO. Chuck was an active member of the Market Development Committee, a nine-year USCC board member and was recently named a Commissioner in the new Certification Program.

In Memoriam: Compost Industry Leader Chuck Wilson

MISSION The US Composting Council advances compost manufacturing, compost utilization, and organics recycling to benefit our members, society, and the environment.

VISIONWe believe compost manufacturing and compost utilization are central to creating healthy soils, clean air and water, a stable climate, and a sustainable society.

We will work to achieve this vision by:

§Educating professionals, policy-makers and the public;

§Serving as an advocate to promote composting;

§Encouraging and promoting research and adoption of best management practices;

§And bringing together organics management and allied professionals, generators of organic residuals, policy-makers, regulators, and product users to pursue this vision.

HISTORYEstablished in 1990, the US Composting Council (USCC) is the only national organization in the United States dedicated to the development, expansion and promotion of the composting industry. The USCC achieves this mission by encouraging, supporting and performing compost related research, promoting best management practices, establishing standards, educating professionals and the public about the benefits of composting and compost utilization, enhancing compost product quality, and developing training materials for compost manufacturers and markets for compost products. USCC members include compost manufacturers, marketers, equipment manufacturers, product suppliers, academic institutions, public agencies, nonprofit groups and consulting/engineering firms.

BioCycle, a premier industry periodical, is the official magazine of the Council.

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FROM THE PRESIDENT

It could be called bittersweet.

Looking back over 2015–16, the US Composting Council experienced a year of both growth and loss; victories and challenges—much like life, isn’t it?

We lost one of our industry’s longtime champions, Chuck Wilson (see memoriam below); yet we grew with our Seal of Testing Assurance and market development programs, both of which Chuck was very passionate about. Now 234 companies are in our testing program. It’s feeling like we are reaching the famous “tipping point” made popular by Malcolm Gladwell; more and more people are hearing about Certified Compost through our members and participants and 298 certified products through our program with Growing a Greener World.

To help us manage the administrative support required for our industry to grow, the Board of Directors moved forward after much research completed by the Transition Committee and hired Drohan Management Company, an association management firm based out of Reston VA who will handle our finances and database. Last year, the USCC also reorganized our structure to more fully integrate compost education programs under the Composting Council Research and Education Foundation’s (CCREF) umbrella, which is home to programs such as compost training,Young Investigator’s scholarship

program and and International Compost Awareness Week. The USCC also proudly announced the appointment of our new Executive Director, Frank Franciosi, an expert who has spent decades in the industry and with the Council in many roles, from member, to Board member, to President, to North Carolina chapter leader to crucial involvement in the Seal of Testing Assurance and market development programs. Welcome, Frank!

CCREF has spent the last year accomplishing research needed to set requirements for training, testing and experience and hired an independent firm to help build what will be the USCC’s Certified Compost Operations manager certification program.

And a small bad news /good news story: the Category 4 East Coast Blizzard of 2016 (aka Snowzilla) hit days before COMPOST2016 in Jacksonville and sadly kept many home; but there were still more than 1,000 attendees for an all-time conference high—including a track brought to us by BioCycle and Institute for Local Self-Reliance on Community Composting that drew new energy to our conference. Welcome!

The enthusiasm and commitment of our industry is taking the USCC to the next level as we celebrate our 25th anniversary which we will celebrate in Los Angeles at Compost2017. We salute those who, like Chuck, helped put USCC on the path more than two decades ago, and those who will carry us forward. Thank you.

– Lorrie Loder-rossiter, President

ANNUAL RePORT 2015–2016 5

ANNUAL RePORT 2015–2016 7

$898,970Income for Fiscal 2015

$1,259,796Expense for Fiscal 2015

*Note: Direct comparisons to 2015-2016 financials are precluded this year by a one-time change in organization of general ledger items.

Total Income Expense

Goal 1 Promotion 1% 8%

Goal 2: Market Development 13% 2%

Goal 3 Advocacy 5% 6%

Goal 4: Education & Conference 56% 41%

Goal 5: Governance 0% 2%

Goal 6 Operations 24% 39%

Goal 7: Research 1% 3%

OUR IMPACT ON OUR WIDER WORLDNo organization can be successful without partners, allies and others whose mission is related. We are proud to be affiliated with these organizations, where we work together on projects, events and information for our common audiences.

§ 336,000 readers represented by our media partners know about the work we do

§ 27,000 attendees of 8 annual tradeshows experience our message

§ 2 million members of our partner organizations hear about our projects, advocacy and our passion for organics recycling, healthy soil, entrepreneurship, climate change mitigation and waste reduction

Media Partners:American Recycler

BioCycle

Composting News

Erosion Control

Mulch and Soil Producer News

MSW Management

Portable Plants & Equipment

Recycling Product News

Resource Recycling

Recycling Today

Waste Advantage

Waste 360

WHEN

Organizational/Project PartnersAmerican Biogas Council

AmHort

American Public Works Association

American Society of Landscape Architects

Biodegradable Product Institute

BlueGreen

International Erosion Control Association

Keep America Beautiful

National Restaurant Association

Natural Resources Defense Council

Organic Materials Research Institute

Soil Science Society

Solid Waste Association of North America

US Zero Waste Business Council

THE FINANCIAL PICTURE*

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8 US COMPOSTING COUNCIL

MEMBERSHIP

Associate (individuals, students, retirees) (12%)

Basic (non-profit, farm composter) (6%)

Bronze (small business, small government, university) (58%)

Silver (medium business, large government) (15%)

Gold (large business) (7%)

Platinum (corporate) (1.3%)

Corporate Sustaining (.5%)

Benefactor (.6%)

New Soilbuilder Levels

Compost Manufacturers (52%)

Academic (3%)

Equipment and Products (11%)

Individual (13%)

Consultants (6%)

Public Agencies (8%)

NonProfits (3%)

Haulers (2%)

Membership By Industry

The USCC heard our membership and in 2016 we rolled out our new Soilbuilder membership levels, changing terminology and membership fees to respond to organization needs and member demand, so you will see our Associate membership – which is becoming the new membership available to larger members as they reach their limits on participating members—has been revised back down to $100.

Members have been thrilled with the newest benefit—a full YEAR of BioCycle Magazine, our official magazine. We have always been an organization for and about our members.

Our focus in the past year has been on growing state level members through Chapter development. We’ve worked with our existing chapters to better define the barriers to entry for becoming a Chapter and how national can help our state partners grow. Four new states were on the horizon for Chapter formation as we closed the fiscal year.

Workplace Composting and Kimberly Clark Partnership

Through a unique arrangement with Kimberly Clark Professional, a Benefactor member, the USCC unveiled the Guide to Workplace Composting in April. This guide is a how-to manual targeted at those charged with setting up organics collection in places of business, large and small. Find a down-loadable PDF of the guide under www.composting-council.org/resources.

WORKPLACECOMPOSTING

A GUIDE TO

CHAPTERS & COMMITTEESChapters are a significant asset to the compost manufacturing industry with their on-the-ground familiarity with local issues, local decisionmakers and their ability to effect change. This year, we worked with Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Organics Council to form the USCC’s newest chapter, the Colorado Composting Council! Welcome!

Chapters:California Composting Council (Association of Compost Producers, Dan Noble)

North Carolina Composting Council (Rhonda Sherman)

Minnesota Composting Council (Ginny Black)

Virginia Composting Council (Gary Gittere)

MD-DC Composting Committee (Brenda Platt)

Colorado Composting Council (Dan Matsch)

Watch for more growth in Michigan, Georgia, New York and Florida!

2015 - 2016

2015 - 20162015 - 2016

ANNUAL RePORT 2015–2016 9

CO CompostingCouncil

U.S. COMPOSTING COUNCILSTATE CHAPTER OF THE

Certified Compost and A Word from Joe for our STA Participants

Educational videos created by Joe Lamp’l can now be customized to highlight individual businesses’ name, location and branding through another USCC partnership with Growing a Greener Word; www.compostingcouncil.org/sta-benefits provides more detail on promotions. The 15-second clip includes a company-specific script and provides a rare ability to have a national TV celebrity create videos each member can use to target their specific customers.

COMPOST MARkETS

ADVOCACY AND PUBLIC POLICYUSCC continues a mission of speaking for the compost manufactur-ing industry and compost community in statehouses, policy forums and regulatory agencies.

Food Scraps2015-16 was a busy year for advocacy efforts to divert food scrap to compost USCC supported Maine’s bill to divert commercial food waste and joined a lobbying coalition of NRDC, JHU Bloomberg Public Policy School, WWF, Green Sports Alliance, NFESH, Forum for the Future and Harvard’s Food Law and Policy Clinic to advocate to USEPA and USDA to implement a national food scrap reduction goal of 50% by 2030

Other Pushes for Organics Recycling in the US

§USCC was a participant and key planner of the National Recycling Coalition’s 2015 Sustainable Materials Management Summit

§USCC again supported Maryland’s Yard Waste Diversion and Food Residuals Compost bill

§USCC lobbied for Hawaii Diversion of Organics and Compost on Agricultural Land bills

§USCC Supported members working for a California Sales and Use Tax Exemption for Equipment Purchase

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CERTIFIED COMPOST CertifiedCompost.orgJoe Lamp’l continues to advocate for

certified compost through his show and blog, “Growing A Greener World,” singing the praises of Certified Compost for over a year.

The Certified Compost brand helps make the STA brand much stronger and even more identifiable for the retail compost consumer. Joe completed two videos for the USCC in 2015, and 2 more are scheduled for 2016. These are available to all STA participants to use.

§ Two Videos targeted at consumers distributed through blogs and social media have been completed!

§ Find them on YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UC2HmgeO1Q5_kos5vbb-uULQ

§ STA Members can contact staff to use the Certified Compost logo on their materials

SEAL OF TESTINg ASSURANCE The Seal of Testing Assurance Program (STA) continues to grow in popularity, both with specifiers and participants.

§ 12 New Products

§ 20 new STA participant companies in 2015-16

§ 14 State Agencies specifying Certified STA Compost Only

State Agencies Requiring STA Labeled Compost Only:

New Marketing Literature for Members to Customize

Now, STA participants can use the colorful, well-designed and newly updated USCC literature about the Certified Compost program—but with their own logo/branding! They can now order them directly and have their company contact information and logo printed right on pieces they order at no additional cost.

™

ANNUAL RePORT 2015–2016 11

AKDOTCalTransCODOTFLDEP

NCDOTNYDOTORDOTSCDOT

TXDOTWIDNRWIDOTWSDOT

IADOTMNDOT

Year 2000 began with

23 companies

Today

234 companies

12 labs

298 products

8 mil. cubic yds

39 states

EDUCATION

CONFERENCE, EDUCATION & TRAININg

THE FOUNDATION Your Resource for Research, Educational Opportunities and ScholarshipsCCREF is a catalyst for advancing composting technologies, practices, and beneficial uses that support resource conservation and economic and environmental sustainability. As the philanthropic arm of the USCC, CCREF positively impacts communities locally and globally by:

§ Fostering scientific research opportunities

§ Increasing awareness and educating the public

§ Advancing the stature and practices of the composting industry

Beginning in 2016, The Foundation will now be the home of the Compost Operations Training Course (COTC) and the International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW) programs. They are a good fit for the Foundation’s focus on education.

In 2015–2016, CCREF oversaw the design of protocols and testing for Certified Compost Operations Manager (CCOM) certification, a professional certification that launches through the USCC in 2016-17, thanks to a grant from the 11th Hour Project .

Sustainable StudentReed PatrickDenison University, OH

Scholarships*:

Young InvestigatorBrandon ErnySterling College, VT

1,010Conference Attendees

77People Trained

Composting Under Cover Course

Specifying Compost Course

57People Trained

104Exhibitors

207Pre-Conference Course Participants

600Equipment Demonstration Day Attendees

JANUARY 25 - 28 | JACKSONVILLE, FL

US Composting Council’s 24th Annual Conference and Tradeshow

CONFERENCE PROGRAM

CCREF is a nonprofit organization and counts on financial support. Contributions from individuals and organizations is vital. To help CCREF continue its important work for the compost manufacturing industry and composting, please make a generous donation today. Donate at: compostfoundation.org/Donate/Ways-to-Give

107People Trained

Compost Operations Training Courses

(Ithaca, NY; Raleigh, NC; Apoka, FL; Davis, CA)

Who comes to the USCC Annual Conference & Tradeshow?

39% Compost Producers

16% Research & Educators

9% End-users

8% Compost Marketers

8% Vendors

8% Not-For-Profit

12% Others

8%

12%

39%

16%9%

8%

8%

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International Compost Awareness Week Compost—The Soil and Water ConnectionWinning Artist: Emily Mozzone, Maple Valley, WA

§ Record 300+ poster entries!

§ 1,350 posters distributed to members, sponsors, state organizations

§ 15 requests for posters from KAB chapters

§ 200 posters distributed to California assembly

§ Ad in Wall Street Journal

§ 52 events held nationwide

Toolkits § Curb to Compost

§ Compostable Plastics

ANNUAL RePORT 2015–2016 13

An Anniversary Celebration and a Call to Action

We’re having an anniversary party this year: the USCC is 25 years old! Anniversaries are wonderful times that allow us to reflect on accomplishments and how we have successfully overcome challenges. Yet milestones are also a call to plot a course for the next quarter century. USCC’s leadership has done that with a new three-year strategic plan.

COMPOST2017, our Silver Anniversary Conference in Los Angeles, CA, will be another capstone to our history as we expect it to be our biggest conference ever, with special activities and new energy.

The USCC Board of Directors looked at the latest and past membership surveys to assess needs and trends in the economy, technology, politics and social climate, and asked for input from close partners and allies. As a result, the plan (which you can find on our website http://compostingcouncil.org/mission/) is focused on Advocacy, Education/Certification, Infrastructure and Marketing, Communications and Public Relations.

Committees and Task Forces will develop Action Plans over the course of the next three years that will include resources and budgets; keep an eye out as we look for member participation in these projects.

One of the action items for the coming year is the rollout of our Certified Compost Operations Manager professional certification program developed by the CCREF. We are excited about the enthusiasm we have seen in the beta testing period and expect that this certification will take USCC and the compost manufacturing industry to a new level of professionalism.

Another major endeavor you can take part in as members is our first Member to Member Drive, called Reconnect. We are asking members to help on regional teams to invite back organizations and individuals who have been part of the industry, and the USCC, over the past decade, and to bring new faces to the table, especially in regions where we have Charter Chapters and chapters in formation. Chapter growth will also be a major theme in coming years; USCC leadership sees the work of our members in their states as another catalyst for growth of our organization to a new level.

By all means—let’s celebrate how our industry has grown since 1992! We look forward to carrying out our vision so we will celebrate again in the year 2042.

– frank franciosi, executive director

EXECUTIVE LETTER

ANNUAL RePORT 2015–2016 1514 US COMPOSTING COUNCIL

16 US COMPOSTING COUNCIL

www.compostingcouncil.org12100 Sunset Hills Rd., Suite 130 Reston, VA 20190p. 301.897.2715 | 301.530.5072

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